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Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

Trey Burke may eventually lead an NBA team there. But he wasn’t going to take the Pistons next year.

Rookie point guards just don’t find themselves in the postseason, unless their name is Magic, they are surrounded by skilled and savvy veterans, or they possess transcendent physical talent, like Derrick Rose, who led the Bulls to the playoffs as a rookie and dropped 36 in his debut against the Celtics (he did this without a reliable jumper).

Burke isn’t going to hammer dunk on anyone, and if he’d wound up here he certainly wasn’t going to be passing to athletic wings capable of raining three-pointers. Yes, he might have filled that role a few years down the road on a remade Pistons’ roster.

But Detroit has to win now, on a team dominated by big men, which is why Joe Dumars chose to begin filling what he sees as his biggest need: athletic wing playmakers that can shoot and defend.

Dumars understands his team also needs a player to bring together his new wings and his frontline players. He said as much Friday at the team’s practice facility when he introduced the team’s draft picks: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tony Mitchell and Peyton Siva.

“We are not done. I will just say that. Between trades and free agency we plan to address whatever holes we have,” he said.

The team still thinks Brandon Knight can play both guard positions. Perhaps he can. Remember that Chauncey Billups once bounced around the league because folks figured all he could do was shoot, too. Offensive-minded point guards need time to slow the game down and learn how to play the position.

For that matter, even defensive-minded point guards do, like Memphis’ Mike Conley, who struggled for a few seasons before leading his team to the Western Conference finals this past spring. What I’m saying is that it’s too soon to decide what Knight’s ceiling is as a playmaker.

The problem is that Dumars can’t afford to wait a few more years to figure out what he’s really got. Nor could he take a chance on Burke. Not if the franchise goal is to get back to the playoffs. And by all accounts, it is.

Yes, the best teams in the league have solid, even spectacular point-guard play. But the Heat just won a title without one, at least in the traditional sense, because LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are so good with the ball.

This is why Dumars kept an open mind Thursday night during the draft. He loves Burke. He knows Burke. He’s also watched his Pistons get run off the floor by hard-charging, highly skilled wings who can do just about everything.

“The hardest teams for us to match up against the last couple years?” he said.

“Athletic teams that get out and play. We struggled against those teams and it was time to address that.”

Dumars is convinced he did with Caldwell-Pope, a high-motor shooter who enjoys defense. Now he has to go find someone to get him the ball.